New Kia SUV is a Top Safety Pick

The 2020 Kia Telluride qualifies for the award when equipped with specific headlights.

July 22, 2019

The 2020 Kia Telluride, a new midsize SUV, qualifies for a Top Safety Pick award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety when equipped with specific headlights.

To qualify for a 2019 Top Safety Pick award, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests, as well as a good or acceptable rating in the passenger-side small overlap front test. It also needs an advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention and a good or acceptable headlight rating.

The Telluride, which was introduced for the 2020 model year, earns good ratings in all six IIHS crashworthiness evaluations.

The Telluride's standard front crash prevention system earns a superior rating. The SUV avoided collisions in IIHS track tests at 12 and 25 mph and has a forward collision warning component that meets the criteria set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The Telluride's optional LED headlights, available on the SX trim, earn an acceptable rating in IIHS tests. The low beams did a good job of lighting the road in all test scenarios, but they created some glare. That headlight option also includes high-beam assist, a system that automatically switches between high beams and low beams, depending on the presence of other vehicles. The SUV's base halogen headlights earn a poor rating.

The Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) shares and supports this mission through scientific studies of insurance data representing the human and economic losses resulting from the ownership and operation of different types of vehicles and by publishing insurance loss results by vehicle make and model.